The manga was serialized in the Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from 1984 through 1995, and its 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. It is licensed for an English language release in North America by Viz Media, in the United Kingdom by Gollancz Manga, and in Australia and New Zealand by Chuang Yi. Dragon Ball was adapted into three anime series, seventeen animated feature films, three television specials, a collectible trading card game, and a large number of video games. An American live-action film began production in 2002 and is slated for release on April 10, 2009.

Dragon Ball is one of the most popular manga series of its time, and continues to enjoy high readership today. By 2000, more than 126 million copies of the manga series had been sold in Japan and by 2007, this number had grown to pass 150 million. The initial Dragon Ball anime was ranked number twelve in a list of the top one-hundred series in Japan. Other manga artists have acknowledged that Dragon Ball was an inspiration for their own works.

Plot

A monkey-tailed boy named Goku is found by an old martial arts expert who raises him as his grandson. One day Goku meets a girl called Bulma and together they go on a quest to retrieve the seven Dragon Balls, mythical objects that can summon a dragon who will grant any wish. Along the way, they meet and befriend many other martial artists. They also undergo rigorous training regimes and educational programs in order to fight in the Tenka-ichi Budōkai, a tournament in which the most powerful fighters in the world compete. Outside the tournaments, Goku faces several villains such as the Red Ribbon Army, a demon known as Piccolo Daimao and his offspring of the same name.

As a young adult, Goku meets his older brother, Raditz, who tells him that they come from a fictional race of extraterrestrials called Saiyans. The Saiyans had sent Goku to Earth to destroy it, but Goku had amnesia. Goku refuses to help him continue the mission, after which he begins to encounter other Saiyans who want to battle him, such as the Saiyan prince Vegeta and Frieza, who is considered to be one of the strongest beings in the universe. After his encounter with Frieza, Goku begins training his first child, Son Gohan, to be his successor. Years later, a group of soldiers from the Red Ribbon army known as androids appear to kill Goku. Another android, Cell, absorbs the Red Ribbon army to increase his power, then fights Goku and Gohan, resulting in the former's death. Goku is capable of returning to life, but decides to stay dead for seven years to train in the Other World. When he returns, he is drawn into a battle for the universe against an extraterrestrial named Majin Buu. Joined by Vegeta and Gohan, Buu is destroyed and Goku dies again. He is later revived by one of the gods from the Other World. Ten years later at a martial arts tournament, Goku meets Buu's human reincarnation, Uub. At the end of the manga, Goku takes Uub away on a journey to train him as another successor.